


Lost Souls

by Techrace



Category: Diablo III
Genre: Canon Rewrite, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-11
Updated: 2015-01-11
Packaged: 2018-03-07 04:37:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,879
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3161480
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Techrace/pseuds/Techrace
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Because Malthael could be a more interesting villain. Because Leah could have a greater role. Because the Diablo universe could be a little more threatening.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Lost Souls

**Author's Note:**

> This was conceived after first watching the trailer for Reaper of Souls, and takes place/diverges from canon just after the trailer's end.

 

_The Horadrim, though nearly dead of exhaustion, was able to reach the Nephalem and deliver Tyrael's message. Hearing such dire tidings, the Nephalem journied immediately for the ancient Horadrim fortress that the Black Soulstone had almost been sealed in, and fought through legions of misty souls. The Nephalem was able to rescue Tyrael from where he had been imprisoned, though Malthael had long since left with the Black Soulstone. Tyrael and the Nephalem set out together in pursuit of the former Archangel of Wisdom._

 

“I would rather fight a thousand demon than a single one of my brethen, fallen as he may be,” said Tyrael as he and the Nephalem as they approached the place Malthael had chosen as his base. “And it is terrifying to think how he might have fallen – I cannot think of a force except one of the Primes that would be capable of such corruption.” He paused and looked up as the sky flared with light. A blazing figure hurtled towards them, landing mere feet in front of the pair, blasting them both with a wave of heat. The figure stood up and spread his wings, revealing himself to be Imperius.

 

“Why are you here?” Imperius demanded. “This is an matter for angels, and for angels alone.”

 

“Was the defeat of Diablo not enough proof of the Nephalem's worth?” asked Tyrael.

 

“I was not only speaking to the Nephalem, Tyrael.”  
  


“I sit alongside you on the Angiris Council!”

 

“You would not if I decided the matter. You turned your back on Heaven the moment you chose this world and its people.”

 

“If you judge this world so harshly, then why break your ancient laws and come here yourself?” asked the Nephalem.

 

“I break nothing; I come here to deal with one who was once a brother. And in light of recent events, I am forced to confront possibility our laws are not so infallible as I had believed. I will grant you that much, Nephalem.”

 

“What exactly have you come here to do?” asked Tyrael. “To redeem Malthael? Or to judge him?”

 

Imperius did not respond immediately. “He has fallen. He is irredeemable. You should know that even better than I.”

 

“Will you at least give me a chance to speak with him? We are all yet brothers. Give me a chance. And if not me, then give him a chance. Please.”

 

Once again, Imperius took time before responding. “I shall take the angel's path to him. Do what you will until then. But when I meet him, I act as valor demands.” With this, he once again blazed with light, and streaked across the sky to the peak of Malthael's fortress.

 

“Hurry, Nephalem!” Tyrael cried, rushing forward, “every moment we waste is one step further from redeeming Malthael!”

 

_Tyrael and the Nephalem rush through the fortress, battling their way through Malthael's minions. They often see signs of Imperius's passing, and must take dire risks to keep ahead of the archangel of Valor. The pair manage to reach Malthael before Imperius, as a ritual involving the Black Soulstone is nearing completion._

 

“Malthael!” Tyrael cried. “You can still stop this madness! Return the Black Soulstone, and we can find a means to restore you!”

 

Malthael turned to Tyrael and the Nephalem. “End this? Have you no comprehension of the number of souls I have already consumed in my madness? And yet, I still need more.” He drew his twin blades. “The soul of an angel, even a fallen one, will suffice.”

 

_Malthael fights Tyrael and the Nephalem, and emerges victorious. The angel of death steps forward, his blade drawing closer to Tyrael. Imperius crashes through the ceiling, forcing Malthael to fall back. Imperius yells a condemnation against Malthael, and raises his spear to strike, when Tyrael calls out him to stop. Imperius does not follow through with his strike. Malthael, taking advantage of this pause, lashes forward, wounding Imperius and causing him to drop his spear. Malthael rains blows upon the archangel, and Imperius's death draws near, when Malthael is pinned by Tyrael, who has taken up the spear._

 

“I could destroy you now, Malthael,” said Tyrael, standing over the angel of death. He threw the spear aside, and put a hand forward. “But that would not be the path of wisdom.”

 

“Then you make the same mistake as me,” replied Malthael. He sprang up, dealing finishing blows to Imperius and then Tyrael. “Pride has always been the bane of angels and demons. Even more so for the Archangel of Wisdom, who thinks he knows all.” He took Imperius's soul and placed it within the Black Soulstone, which burned with light.

 

“You could still trouble me, Nephalem,” said Malthael to the Nephalem, who was recovering from her own defeat. Malthael summoned one of his collected souls, then turned to his ritual. “Live long enough, and you may hear my story.”

 

_The soul rises up and takes form, revealing itself to be Tyrael's. The Nephalem pleads for Tyrael to remember himself, but the soul remains silent and the Nephalem is forced to do battle. As they fight, Malthael relates his tale and perfoms the final piece of the Black Soulstone ritual._

 

“I was the archangel of Wisdom, once. I was so foolishly convinced of my omniscience. Then your world of Sanctuary came about, and the Worldstone on it. The Worldstone troubled me, for I did not fully understand it. So I departed Heaven, seeking to fill this gap in my knowledge; I thought my journey would be short, that there was simply some oversight on my part. Foolishness.

 

“There is much more to this existence than could possibly be understood, Nephalem. Sanctuary, the Hells, even the Heavens, are but a brief spark in a infinite void. So vast, so complete is that darkness that the merest glimpse brought down even one such as myself. It was then that the servants of Diablo found me, already almost reduced to my current state. With their tricks and cruel humor, they put the final nails into the coffin of my wretched form.”

 

_The Nephalem protests, saying that Malthael can stop this here._

 

“I cannot go against my nature, Nephalem. I cannot be anything other than what they have made me. I am – I must be – a Reaper of Souls, collecting them to restore the power within the Black Soulstone.”

 

“You would revive the Prime Evils? Then you have truly fallen, Malthael!”

 

“DO NOT DOUBT ME!” Malthael yelled, his voice for the first time filled with emotion. “I am an angel yet! I cannot change what I am, but witness my rebellion, small as it is.”

 

_The Nephalem defeats the remnants of Tyrael, but the ritual is complete; the mist of myriad souls coalesces around the Black Soulstone. The artifact slowly loses its sharp edges, then abandons form altogether, mixing with the souls to form a dark smoke that grows until the entire chamber is obscured by darkness. It dissapates, and the Nephalem beholds the figure left behind where the Black Soulstone had once been. It is different now – draped in soulmist, scarred as if from some great battle, faint suggestions of angel wings spreading out from the shoulders, and burns so horrible they resemble demon skin. But despite all of these, the Nephalem is still able to recognize Leah._

 

“It has been a long time, Nephalem. For me, at least,” said whatever creature bears Leah's form.

 

“You cannot fool me so easily, Diablo – not when you've worn that form before,” replied the Nephalem.

 

“No, it is really me, Leah. Diablo and the other Primes were sealed in the soulstone with me, but I have fought against their essences to stay alive for what feel like centuries. Please don't turn against me now, friend.”

 

The Nephalem remained battle-ready, expecting treachery at any moment.

 

“So perhaps you can't trust me. It's true, I've inherited their essences, and their power, but this was arranged by Malthael! He was forced to restore that which was contained in the Black Soulstone, but he sensed my lingering prescence and revived me instead of Diablo. If you cannot trust me, at least trust an angel. He may have fallen, but we know fallen angels can remain worthy of trust.”

 

“I know of one fallen angel worthy of trust. He earned that trust. And his own trust got him killed.”

 

“Then I shall earn your trust. Let us destroy what remains of Diablo's legions, together.”

 

_Leah opens a hellish portal, which she and the Nephalem enter. They fight their way further and further into the heart of the Hells, destroying every one of Diablo's servants, many of them nearly as terrible as their master. They eventually reach the seat of Diablo's power, with a great orb of Hellish fire at its center._

 

“I shall destroy this, and then Sanctuary will be forever free of the threat of the forces of darkness,” Leah said.

 

 _The Archangel of Death appears, and tries to attack Leah_.

 

“Please hold him off, Nephalem, this requires concentration!” asked Leah, in the process of channeling angelic and demonic power into the orb of fire.

 

_Malthael and the Nephalem fight. During the fight, Malthael comments on both the impossibility of killing him and the necessity that Leah be stopped._

 

“You cannot kill Death, Nephalem!”

 

“You think you are powerful, Nephalem? She holds both the angelic and demonic in her command, even greater than you do! Stop her while you still can!”

 

“She will bring the void upon us! She must be destroyed!”

 

“Let me atone for my lack of foresight!”

 

_The Nephalem succeeds in keeping Malthael away, and Leah completes her ritual._

 

“I have been keeping something from you, Nephalem. I am sorry for that,” Leah said. “No, not that I am Diablo reborn. What I have destroyed was the Heart of Tathamet, the demonic counterpart to the Crystal Arch. Soon, all demonic power will fade from this existence. Sanctuary will never again be plagued by the forces of evil. But there is one task that remains. Will you join me in destroying the Crystal Arch, so that Sanctuary will forever be safe from outside powers?”

 

The Nephalem refused.

 

“I know it seems wrong,” Leah said. “But the angels are a threat, seeking to interfere with humanity, almost as much as the demons were. Please try to understand; I want none to ever be like myself again, a pawn in the hand of greater powers.” Leah spreads her angelic wings, and ascends in a streak of blazing white flame.

 

The Nephalem, desperate for a way to follow and stop Leah, realized that there is still an angel nearby, who might be of aid. Malthael is kneeling down on the ground, appearing exhausted; strange for an angelic being.

 

“The Eternal Conflict is ended,” said Malthael. “One of the sparks extinguished. The void is coming for us. Because of Leah's hubris, because of mine, the balance is overthrown, and even death may die.” And thus passed the Archangel of Death.

 

_The stage is set for the final chapter, in which the Nephalem must fight her way out of the collapsing Hells, and find an entry into heaven, and there stop Leah, all the while fleeing the encroaching void and finding a way to restore to universe's stability._

**Author's Note:**

> The trailer for RoS made me concerned that Malthael, a potentially fascinating villain, would just be another 'blarg blarg must be evil and kill things' villain. 
> 
> I was also disappointed in the original Diablo III story for several reasons. One of these was Leah just being a pawn in the Eternal Conflict, and then killed off to boot. 
> 
> Another reason was that the universe was...actually pretty nice, as opposed to the dark universe it sells itself to be. Sure, there's some nasty monsters running around, but if you can solve the world's problems by belching laser beams from your hands, be lauded as a hero at the end, and still be in a position of moral certainty? That's about as far from dark and gritty as you can get. And look at the angels! I mean, Imperius is a jerkass, so it's not like they are entirely fluffy-happy-fun-times, but they're understandable. They basically want good things. I was expecting them to be almost as great a threat to humanity as the demons, or at least so mysterious that you weren't sure what they were up to. Feeling overwhelmed by the magnitude of what you don't know can be a key part of a dark universe, just look at Lovecraft. But no, they have wings and a council and shiny heaven and Tyrael is your now-human buddy.
> 
> Oh, and I tried to write this story in such a way it could actually sort-of serve as a game script, complete with hook for the next installment. Just to prove that it really could be done better than what Blizzard did.


End file.
